Becoming the Tupamaros : solidarity and transnational revolutionaries in Uruguay and the United States

In __Becoming the Tupamaros__, Lindsey Churchill explores an alternative narrative of US-Latin American relations by challenging long-held assumptions about the nature of revolutionary movements like the Uruguayan Tupamaros group. A violent and innovative organization, the Tupamaros demonstrated that Latin American guerrilla groups during the Cold War did more than take sides in a battle of Soviet and US ideologies. Rather, they digested information and techniques without discrimination, creating a homegrown and unique form of revolution.Churchill examines the relationship between state repression and revolutionary resistance, the transnational connections between the Uruguayan Tupamaro revolutionaries and leftist groups in the US, and issues of gender and sexuality within these movements. Angela Davis and Eldridge Cleaver, for example, became symbols of resistance in both the United States and Uruguay. and while much of the Uruguayan left and many other revolutionary groups in Latin America focused on motherhood as inspiring women's politics, the Tupamaros disdained traditional constructions of femininity for female combatants. Ultimately, __Becoming the Tupamaros__ revises our understanding of what makes a Movement truly revolutionary. "In Becoming the Tupamaros, Lindsey Churchill explores an alternative narrative of US-Latin American relations by challenging long-held assumptions about the nature of revolutionary movements like the Uruguayan Tupamaros group. A violent and innovative organization, the Tupamaros demonstrated that Latin American guerrilla groups during the Cold War did more than take sides in a battle of Soviet and US ideologies. Rather, they digested information and techniques without discrimination, creating a homegrown and unique form of revolution. Churchill examines the relationship between state repression and revolutionary resistance, the transnational connections between the Uruguayan Tupamaro revolutionaries and leftist groups in the US, and issues of gender and sexuality within these movements. Angela Davis and Eldridge Cleaver, for example, became symbols of resistance in both the United States and Uruguay. and while much of the Uruguayan left and many other revolutionary groups in Latin America focused on motherhood as inspiring women's politics, the Tupamaros disdained traditional constructions of femininity for female combatants. Ultimately, Becoming the Tupamaros revises our understanding of what makes a Movement truly revolutionary."--Publisher's description In Becoming the Tupamaros, Lindsey Churchill explores analternative narrative of US-Latin American relations by challenginglong-held assumptions about the nature of revolutionary movementslike the Uruguayan Tupamaros group. A violent and innovativeorganization, the Tupamaros demonstrated that Latin Americanguerrilla groups during the Cold War did more than take sides in abattle of Soviet and US ideologies. Rather, they digestedinformation and techniques without discrimination, creating ahomegrown and unique form of revolution.

Churchill examines the relationship between state repression andrevolutionary resistance, the transnational connections between theUruguayan Tupamaro revolutionaries and leftist groups in the US,and issues of gender and sexuality within these movements. AngelaDavis and Eldridge Cleaver, for example, became symbols ofresistance in both the United States and Uruguay. and while much ofthe Uruguayan left and many other revolutionary groups in LatinAmerica focused on motherhood as inspiring women's politics, theTupamaros disdained traditional constructions of femininity forfemale combatants. Ultimately, Becoming the Tupamarosrevises our understanding of what makes a Movement trulyrevolutionary.

Cover 1 Title Page 4 Contents 6 Acknowledgments 8 Introduction 12 1. “Digging the Tupes”: The Unique Revolutionary Contributions of the Tupamaros 40 2. Supporting the “Other” America: Leftist Uruguayan Solidarity with US Radicals 80 3. Solidarity and Reciprocal Connections: Uruguayan and US Activists 110 4. “A Pistol in Her Hand”: Sexual Liberation and Gender in the Tupamaros and the Greater Uruguayan Left 130 Conclusion 166 Notes 176 References 204 Index 216